it's really quite odd, hearing the boy genius described with such a fond tone, having to remember that despite chan being a morbid little monster in fitz's presence, that's not what he's like all of the time. it feels like fitz is at a house party and there's a cat, and he tries all night to cajole the cat to let fitz pet it, going pspspspsps and drumming his fingers along the wooden floors, and then dom shows up and the cat plops into his lap without hesitation. all of which is to say maybe fitz is a little jealous of this fact, that fitz tries so hard to get those laughs out of chan that dom's talking about whereas dom probably earns them just by virtue of existing. how is fitz supposed to live with not being the most magnetic thing in every room?
"yeah bro, totally," fitz says, flaunting a big smile to hide his increasing uncertainty. fitz places his skateboard back on the floor and hops back on it, balancing on it from one foot to another, mainly just to do something with his ever-thrumming body. "one more chan-related question and then i promise i'll forget he ever existed," fitz says. "that birthday party tallie's hosting is coming up, i'm sure you got an invite. anyway, i was thinking over what to get him as a gift, and i noticed he doesn't wear a watch - do you think that'd be lame, getting him one as my gift? like, i don't know, has he evolved past the need to tell time?"
“dude, no worries. honestly, i’m stoked to talk about somethin’ that’s not my relationship or that funeral.” or the secrets, which wove, ever-present, into both… the chan talk is in fact a very welcome respite, one that brings a grin to his face. “do i think chan could measure the angle of the sun and deduce the time if he really wanted? yeah, but you should still get him the watch. i think tal would thank you individually for making his chronic t-shirts look like, at all more intentional." besides, let's be real, that round-eyed, puppy-dog look of dom's says he thinks it'd be romantic, the same way he willfully reads fitz's uncertainty as perfectly charming.
"shit, speaking of the party though,” dom leans his elbows on his knees, turning entirely conspiratorial as if his ensuing statement is not a facet of every college kid everywhere, "i can't go toe to toe with chan, but since it's his special day, it's the one time i try and get supremely fucked up. i've got aileen's permission, but i've embarrassed myself like, five years running, so i need your expertise out there. watch my back, talk me down, all that?"

















